The second of the five cooking tips I filmed for the Today Show on News Channel 8 demonstrates how to make my favorite dairy free pumpkin pie recipe that ditches the nasty canned evaporated milk.
Canned evaporated milk is one of the most health robbing processed foods that are regularly part of Holiday meal preparation and it can so easily be avoided!
Not only is the milk used to make canned evaporated milk typically from sick, confined cows kept going via a cocktail of drugs and fed large amounts of genetically modified corn and soy, but it is also heavily processed which denatures the fragile milk proteins.
The violent processing required to produce evaporated milk damages the fragile milk proteins so completely that the enzymes the body produces to digest these proteins lose their effectiveness as they no longer fit together like puzzle pieces.
Any undigested milk proteins either rot in the gut providing the perfect breeding ground for pathogens or worse, make their way into the bloodstream due to “leaky gut” syndrome, which nearly all Westerners suffer from to some degree.
At that point, the body identifies the undigested proteins as foreign invaders and mounts an immune response, better known as allergies, asthma, eczema and other symptoms of autoimmune disorders!
A simple substitution of whole coconut milk for the evaporated milk solves this problem entirely. While it is best to use fresh coconut milk if possible, even if you used a canned version with no additives, it is a huge improvement over evaporated milk. Coconut milk is low in protein so there isn’t much to denature via processing and the fats in coconut milk are stable when heated and highly beneficial to health. These medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) are even being researched as a method for halting and reversing Alzheimer’s disease.
As a bonus, coconut milk is naturally sweet so you may find as I have that you can reduce the amount of sugar (I use sustainable coconut sugar or sucanat – click here for sources) in your recipe and still achieve the same level of sweetness.
The best part about using coconut milk instead of evaporated milk in your pumpkin pie is the taste. The taste is creamier and much more enjoyable than the results produced with canned evaporated milk!
To view all the Holiday Turkey Tips I filmed for the NBC News Channel 8 Today show, click over to the provided link.
More Pumpkin Recipes!
If you enjoy recipes using pumpkin, try these other traditional recipes using this nutritious Autumn vegetable:
I actually replaced it before I saw this site. By the way, I put no ”sugar” in the pie. I soaked dates(sugar and fibre!!) and then blended them after an hour added date water to make them blend well. My pumpkin and date sugar renders the recipe rather liquid so I added a few tablespoons of chia (more fibre, more protein and fat) to the mix and the seeds do their job to thicken it all. I shouldn’t be so excited about my recipe as I haven’t tasted it yet. Crossing my fingers.
After I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new feedback are added- checkbox and now every time a comment is added I get four emails with the identical comment. Is there any approach you possibly can take away me from that service? Thanks!
I made 1 pie using creme fraiche and 1 using coconut milk and coconut sugar. I made a gluten free crust and used coconut oil. My son is gluten,dairy, and nut free. His pie turned out lovely. I love seeing Sarah recommend this. We’ve been eating this way for more than 4yrs. and have learned a lot.
I usually make my home made pumpkin pies with organic condensed milk. Is condensed milk as bad as evaporated milk?
Hi Sarah – can I just use coconut cream? I get mine from Wilderness Family Naturals and it is a great product. Thanks for the great recipe!
Brian,
Can your daughter have sunflower seeds? You can make milk from sprouted sunflower seeds just like you would homemade almond milk. IT might be worth a try. You could try it in a small batch of custard and just cook it in 8 oz jam jars on the stove top in a slow water bath to see if how it turns out before you make the whole pie.
We make custard this way sometimes.
Tina
What do you think of coconut sugar? Aside from the fact that it’s processed food.
Great idea. I’m curious about your crust though? What do you do for yours? I tried to make a quiche crust from coconut flour once and it did not turn out so well. Waiting for suggestions from our HHE:)
How about Almond milk? Anyone ever try that? It works in so many things. 🙂